Add Color to Your Collection with Littleton’s Special Exclusives
I’m going to preface this by saying – there’s no wrong way to build a collection, and that’s why it’s such a fun, fascinating and wide-reaching hobby! But when it comes to colorized coins and currency, there are two schools of thought. Traditionalists prefer to collect by date and mint mark. However, a growing group of hobbyists really enjoy the dimension and vibrancy that colorized coins offer.
For me, one of the best ways to jazz up a collection is with a pop of color. Ever since we produced our first colorized coin 20 years ago, our range has grown and expanded in some wonderful ways!
A popular beginning
When we first began colorizing coins around 2004, our teams were working with popular designs of the time – like a Pope John Paul II medal and the Statehood quarters. Since then, our process for creating a colorized version of a coin’s design has remained largely the same. Once our design team receives a template outline of the coin’s design, they set to work enhancing the details with realistic colors.
When we discovered just how much our collectors would enjoy colorized coins, we began creating unique works of art on coins – like the nocturnal series of American Silver Eagles featuring animals set against dark skies and brilliantly colorful full moons, or scenic collages on 4 oz. silver rounds.
Discovering the great outdoors
From our start with colorized coins, we’ve also branched out into colorized notes as well. Paper money has the added advantage that it offers a larger canvas – really allowing colorful scenes to show up in fantastic detail! Breathtaking scenes like those in Yellowstone and along the Maine Coast give a truly realistic view of the great outdoors.
One of our senior designers, Katie, has been creating colorized coins and notes for the last 7 years. Some of her favorite projects include colorized notes in their individual holders – just like this one she helped create, honoring Jules Verne’s Around The World in 80 Days. Katie is an avid reader, and as she said, “I just loved putting my creative energy into bringing this tale to life in color! Plus, it’s really neat to see what I’ve created on the computer printed on currency. It’s like watching two worlds meet.”
A common theme
Another fulfilling type of project that our designers enjoy working on are themed sets – like this Backyard Birds of America set! Ashley, another of our senior designers, really enjoyed its creation process. She researched colorful birds from across the U.S., fitting images of them to the size of Kennedy half dollars. The end result? A bird-watchers dream collection!
As Ashley put it, “it was challenging – but a lot of fun – to find all of these really dynamic and colorful photos that would show the birds at their best. But I got to learn a bit about each one in the process, which was a bonus!”
Do you have any colorized coins or currency in your collection? If so, what’s your favorite piece? I’d love to hear about it, and why it’s special to you, in the comments below.
